


What's This?

by rexlover180



Series: Halloween 2016 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Nightmare Before Christmas Fusion, Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 23:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8179789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexlover180/pseuds/rexlover180
Summary: Ever since the holiday towns figured out about the existence of each other, there was a lot of effort put forward to intermingle. The other holidays were fine; Easter Town was cooperative, New Years Town liked to party but they were harmless, Thanksgiving Town was fine. But no one wanted to touch Halloween Town. But Christmas was all about peace and love so it was their responsibility to try and offer that olive branch. And who were the two chosen as ambassadors? Why, the two elves that had already finished the bulk of their toys ahead of time! This was the first time Keith regretted having good time management.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, Nightmare Before Christmas AU that takes place pretty close to year after the movie. And everything is the same except the elves look more human and they're taller. First story for Halloween month, so look forward to more from me.

“Are you…scared?”

“No!”

“Then relax.”

Shiro chuckled, mussing up Keith’s hair as he glared at him. He wasn’t scared! He was…nervous, anxious, maybe a bit excited. But he was not scared. That was exactly what these people wanted. He’d heard stories about this Halloween Town. And he didn’t like them. These people seemed like assholes, certainly. Their holiday was all about scaring the shit out of children! And then there was that whole mess around last Christmas that Keith was still mad about.

But ever since the various towns figured out about the existence of each other, there was a lot of effort put forward to intermingle. The other holidays were fine; Easter Town was cooperative, New Years Town liked to party but they were harmless, Thanksgiving Town was fine. But no one wanted to touch Halloween Town. But Christmas was all about peace and love so it was their responsibility to try and offer that olive branch. And who were the two chosen as ambassadors? Why, the two elves that had already finished the bulk of their toys ahead of time! This was the first time Keith regretted having good time management.

He was walking through the forest at the edge of town, past the welcome sign. Keith had never left Christmas Town, but Shiro had been a part of the group to go investigate Thanksgiving Town. He knew what he was doing. They were the initial ambassadors as well. Of course, Santa would have to go over to Halloween Town eventually (though it was common knowledge he really didn’t want to) in order to make proper treaties and stuff. How was Halloween Town even run? Was it just a bunch of anarchy with no proper ruler? Or was it that skeleton that was in charge?

“I’m relaxed,” Keith muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. One thing he was kind of looking forward to in this new town was people not all dressed up in the same clothes. Ever since he heard that was an option, he had been dreaming for it. All of the elves dressed the same and he absolutely hated it. A green tunic with those stupid candy cane striped sleeves and tights? Keith would vomit if he could. He’d made dolls with better clothes.

“I’m sure,” Shiro said. Finally, they reached a ring of trees with doors made of symbols and Keith looked at all of them with apt interest. He’d heard about these portals, but never really searched them out. Any time he spent looking too far in the woods made him antsy, especially alone. Shiro walked right up to a door with an object Keith had never seen before. It was orange and round. And it had a face. Made of triangles? It had to be the strangest thing Keith had seen in his life, and he’d made some pretty strange toys for the kids on the nice list. Still, Shiro looked completely relaxed as he reached for the knob and turned it. He motioned inside for Keith to go in first. He carefully looked inside the hollow tree, only to see it almost completely black. There was nothing there. Was this really a portal? Or was Shiro just making a joke?

Then, Keith saw a leaf. It was bright red, floating just in front of his face. He stared at it in apt interest until he noticed all of the others leaves that started to appear. They were incredibly vibrant colors; reds, oranges, yellow, all bleeding into each other. There was a swirl of wind starting to circle around him and he didn’t notice how strong it got until he lost his footing. He let out a yell as he fell inside of the tree. He shut his eyes tight in shock and didn’t open them until he could feel himself sitting on hard ground. He blinked as he looked around. There was no snow. Keith swallowed thickly. It was dark. All of the trees surrounding him were black and dead, the grass was dead, everything was dead. He wasn’t sure if he liked it. Shiro was already standing beside him and Keith just looked at him for a short while before standing up. He was composed, he could do this. It was just Halloween Town, it wasn’t the end of the world.

“You can still go back if you’re not sure,” Shiro offered.

“And leave you alone?” Keith scoffed, turning away. He was definitely not going to be that coward. Shiro just smiled as he walked, completely at ease. Was he just cocky because he’d been to another holiday town? Or was he cocky because he wanted to show off? Regardless, Keith followed after him with a frown etched on his face. He definitely wasn’t excited about seeing this place or its inhabitants. The sooner they got this over with, the better.

But Keith soon found out that this place was…extremely different from Christmas Town. It was…creepy. Keith could just barely see the town and the sign but it all looked dead. Hollow. But he started seeing people. It was astounding that people could actually live like this. It was so…dark and hollow, but the people seemed to prosper. They were laughing and smiling. Or, at least, that was what Keith could assume. No one here looked human. They were monsters. It made Keith tense, but Shiro didn’t even hesitate to walk into the town’s borders. It kept Keith calm, staying close to someone who was so relaxed. He had no idea how Shiro could be so relaxed, especially in this kind of situation, but he trusted him.

The strangest part came when people started to take notice of them. They were looking at Shiro and Keith like _they_ were the freaks. But no one really stopped to talk with them. Shiro didn’t look perturbed, instead he kept walking with purpose. Keith licked his lips, taking in other details. Like the…was it a fountain? It seemed like one, but the liquid inside was not water. He had no idea what it was, but it definitely scared him. When he investigated closer, he frowned. It looked like there was something dark deep down. How deep was that water? Before he could even react, that thing got closer. It popped out of the ‘water’ and Keith yelped, stepping back as the creature all but screamed at him. As Keith waited for his heart rate to calm down, however, the thing started laughing. More like cackling.

“Oh, man, I got you so good!” the creature sighed happily as it finally calmed down.

“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Keith asked bluntly. The creature in front of him was definitely aquatic. And small. The creature folded its arms over the edge of the fountain, propping its head on it.

“What’s someone like you doing here?’ the creature asked curiously. Shiro finally did stop walking, still way more composed than Keith could say he was. “Aren’t you from that Christmas place?”

“We are,” Shiro said. “My name is Shiro, this is Keith. We’re looking for…a mayor of some kind? Someone in charge?”

“Well, are you looking for the mayor or the person in charge?” The creature giggled. “Jack’s out, the mayor’s pretty much useless. What do you want?”

“We came to talk,” Shiro offered, adding a little smile. “Ever since the…incident during last year’s Christmas, the towns have been starting to communicate. We think it’s about time the people of the towns that started it all made contact.”

“ _Someone’s_ behind you!” someone shouted right into Keith’s ear and he felt his heart stop again. He actually let out a scream this time as the creature that scared him started cackling behind him as well.

“Oh, man, thank you!” the creature howled and Keith turned around to see something like a wolf holding onto its stomach, keeling over. “I’ve been working on that one for months!”

“I hate this town,” Keith said decisively to Shiro as the wolf walked up to the fish, who gave it a high five.

“Nice one, Lance,” the fish said happily.

“Thank you, Pidge,” this Lance said with a wide smile. “You Christmas people really need to learn how to loosen up.”

“It was your relaxed attitude that ruined Christmas,” Keith said disdainfully and Shiro elbowed him sharply in the side.

“Personally, I think we made Christmas a lot better,” Lance said with his hands up in false surrender. “I made some pretty awesome toys, if I say so myself.”

“I bet you only gave that child nightmares,” Keith said.

“Alright, calm down,” Shiro said. “That’s in the past now.”

“You know, it’s really hard to scare people in this town,” Pidge said with a wide smile. “You Christmas guys should come by more often. Wait, are there other towns?”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Keith warned. If they got their hands on Easter, all hell would break loose.

“Could you imagine how awesome Trick-Or-Treating would be if we went to the other towns?” Lance asked excitedly and Keith groaned, rolling his eyes. He didn’t want these beasts inside his town. “We could scare so many people!”

“Let’s focus on making contact first,” Shiro said, trying to get their little quest back on track. “Even if your mayor doesn’t hold a lot of power, could we still talk to him? Or is there someone else? I would love to get to know the people of this town.”

Honestly, Keith wanted to leave as quickly as possible, but he swallowed that request for the time being. He had to keep a level head. At the very least, he had to put on a better face than the people of Halloweentown. Show which was the better town.

“Does everyone dress like that?” Pidge asked curiously.

“Yes,” Shiro answered, patient as always.

“I’m so sorry,” Lance said with a snicker.

“It’s better than-” there was a roar behind him that made Keith jump out of his skin, “-fuck!”

“Oooh, mister Christmas has a dirty mouth,” Lance snickered and Keith glared. He wasn’t sure where to place his glare. Either at the monsters in front of him or the monster behind him that just scared him. It was howling at him as well, looking just like a wolf, but a lot more well-built than Lance, a lot thicker.

“These goody toe shoes are so much fun to mess with,” the new monster said happily, going to hit his paw against Lance’s in another high five.

“Nice one Hunk,” Lance said happily. Keith moved forward, a fist poised at the ready, but Shiro held him back with an arm and a pointed look. “Where’s all that peace and love, huh?” Lance asked with a wicked smirk. “Isn’t that what your holiday is all about?”

“And isn’t your holiday all about fun?” Shiro asked, cutting off Keith before he could say something stupid. “How about you show us something? A game of some kind?”

“A game?” all three monsters perked up at that.

“I’ve got one,” Hunk said excitedly. “It’s called Bat Shit Crazy.”

“I love this one,” Pidge said excitedly. Keith had a bad feeling about it.

“How does it work?” Shiro asked, though he seemed a bit apprehensive as well. Finally.

“Well, first, we’ve gotta get you to this cave on the other side of town,” Lance said conversationally, wrapping an arm around Shiro’s shoulders. He started explaining this convoluted game Keith wasn’t planning on playing and Keith started thinking. Lance had its back to Keith. It was honestly a perfect chance for revenge. He didn’t know anything about this ‘scaring’ thing but he was a quick learner.

Keith only thought on it before another second before he moved forward. He had to move quickly and suddenly, and make a loud sound. That would be plenty to scare this monster. So he acted quickly, taking hold of Lance’s shoulders and shaking them, shouting the first thing that came to his head.

“Boo!”

It was extremely quiet in the aftermath and no one moved for a few seconds. It didn’t happen the way Keith was planning, not at all. Lance wasn’t scared. When Keith finally released his hands from Lance’s shoulders, Lance finally turned its head.

“Okay, so that was pretty good,” Lance said with a small smile. “But I have some notes.”

“I don’t want your notes.” Keith punched Lance in the chest.

“It takes so much more than that to scare one of us,” Pidge said happily. “Like…I’m pretty sure the only one that’s scared Lance has been Jack himself.”

“You totally should’ve scared Hunk,” Lance offered. “He’s pretty basic to scare. Not, like, as easy as you, but maybe your partner. I don’t know, no one’s tried on him yet.”

“There’s still time,” Pidge said.

“Let’s…start with the game,” Shiro said.

Lance laughed. “Oh, man, if you don’t wanna be scared, you should so not play this game. Or, like, any game here.”

“Still sure this is a good idea?” Keith asked Shiro bluntly.

“We’ll find out,” Shiro said, patting his back. “For now…I think you need to work on your scaring.”

“Don’t be a smart ass,” Keith scoffed.


End file.
